Investigation of Bi-Pore Scaffold Based on the Cell Behaviors on 3D Scaffold Patterns

Abstract

Scaffold, one of three essential elements of tissue regeneration, provides a proper environment for cells to grow in vitro and in vivo by playing that supporting role. Recent many research groups have fabricated scaffolds by various SFF (solid free-from fabrication) technologies that permit the control of internal/external geometry such as pore size, porosity, and line pattern of scaffold with reproducibility. To investigate the effect of scaffold pattern on cell behavior, tests were planned by the design of experiments (DOE) technique. Line width and line pitch were selected as controllable factor for cell adhesion and cell proliferation. Various kinds of patterned scaffolds with diverse line widths and pitches were fabricated by NSTL (nano stereolithography) system with high resolution. These scaffolds were seeded with MC3T3-E1, pre-osteoblast cell line, and were cultured in vitro for 7 days. To examine the effect of cell adhesion and proliferation on the scaffold patterns, CCK-8 assay was performed to quantify the living cell into each scaffold. Additionally, we fabricated and evaluated 3D bi-pore scaffold by NSTL system to investigate the effect of bi-pore structure in cell behavior. To realize this goal, we also fabricated the scaffold with only global pore and compared the effectiveness of two types scaffold in cell adhesion and proliferation. With these results, we confirmed that the scaffold patterns, such as line width and line pitch, can affect cell behavior and demonstrated that bi-pore scaffold had better cell adhesion and proliferation than scaffold with only global pore.